Jennifer Government

What Hacker News says

1. Brian_K_WhiteMar 2026
   I loved Jennifer Government (Max Barry) wayyyy back.
   thread
2. cwnythMar 2026
   You should read Jennifer Government.
   thread
3. FnoordJan 2026
   Utopia [1] [2] by (back then) Mehul Patel's Swirve. Apparently it is still going on. Same with NationStates! [3] [4] Max Barry's book Jennifer Government is also decent.

   [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20000816192919/http://games.swir...

   [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_(1998_video_game)

   [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NationStates

   [4] https://web.archive.org/web/20021208105428if_/http://www.nat...

   Show morethread
4. guyomesDec 2023
   Another indicator is the rate of citizen un prisons. The laws on gun ownership doesn't prevent the US government to have high rate of citizens incarcerated [1]. On the other hand, US is a state of law, and in theory, US incarceration does not come from oppression but from justice and written laws [2]. Now even though gun ownership might be one way to garanty that US remains a state of law, it is not obvious that it is the only way. If US was not a state of law, I would not be comfortable that GAFAM companies gets their own armies, as in the funny dystopian novel Jenifer Government [3].

   [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarcera...

   [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rechtsstaat

   [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Government

   Show morethread
5. prependJul 2023
   There’s a fun book called Jennifer Government by Max Barry about corporations fielding their own armies and directly controlling countries.
   thread
6. Brian_K_WhiteApr 2023
   Thank you. I'll trade you a Jennifer Government by Max Barry

   (not the same premis just a recommendation, but is also a take on the progression of corporations)

   thread